King and colleagues are also working with researchers from MIT, Northeastern University, Brown University and Boston Medical Center to evaluate the ability of other types of computer-based, automated and interactive devices to help people change their health behavior.
So what's next, after PDAs"
"Cell phones, for sure," King said. "Especially now that we have the iPhone; its big screen would be very useful for providing visual feedback." She and her colleagues are also continuing to focus on developing portable devices capable of interacting with accelerometers (activity monitors), so that the necessary information - for example, the amount of walking in a day - automatically transmits to the device.
"With the PDA study, evaluations made were based almost entirely on the participants' self-report," King explained. "We'd like our devices to be able to provide real-time feedback using objective activity as well."
In a companion study to be published later this year, King and colleagues have also evaluated the usefulness of PDAs in modifying dietary behavior. Results indicate that similar "probing" and feedback by a computer program - about a person's eating habits rather than activity level - can nudge participants towards increasing their vegetable and whole-grain intake.
"Physical activity is only one piece of the puzzle; another is dietary intake," King noted. She would like to eventually harness the tracking power of GPS, so that willing participants, "if they're walking past a Fresh Choice restaurant, can be prompted to go there instead of the fast-food outlet next door."
Maybe that's technical intervention, not divine - but it could be helpful, especially when you can't get that vision of french fries out of your head.
| Contact: Susan Ipaktchian susani@stanford.edu 650-725-5375 Stanford University Medical Center Source:Eurekalert |